Finally, Francisco Liriano looked like the fantasy baseball player that we all wanted when we drafted him back in March. And by “we,” I mean you. How did I know you drafted Liriano? Because, when you drafted, I was in your room, sitting behind the John Cena life-sized cardboard cutout, eating your Raspberry Newtons, while I read your Choose Your Own Adventure book. You think that’s freaky? I’m still there. Only you can’t see me. Muahahahaha…ha. So Liriano put together a great first start back after dominating Triple-A, yet there’s some savvy fantasy baseball owners out there that will see this for what it is, an opportunity to sell. Buh-buh-but, Grey, Liriano could dominate? Yeah, so can Campillo, Randy Johnson, Nolasco and Myers, but none of those guys have the name/trade-value Francisco Liriano has right now. Do I think Liriano will be good? Sure. But if you need a piece other than a starter who is riskier than people are perceiving him, then go for it. Don’t forget, I’m watching. Boo! Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Billy Wagner – 2 MRIs in 2 weeks is 2 many; 2 bad; K.I.T, BFF. On a scale of worthy replacements, Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez fall right between Shemp and Curly Joe. The Mets called up Eddie Kunz, their Double-A closer. This, fellas, is anyone’s ballgame for at least a few weeks, if not the rest of the season.

John Maine – Maine hit the 15-day DL. This is a move that’s probably about a month overdue. He should be back in a couple of weeks.

Manny Ramirez – 4-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs. Imagine you’re a waiter for Applebee’s. You slack off for two years, deciding customers can get their own mozzarella sticks from the kitchen. Then Applebee’s starts saying you haven’t been doing your job, which is absolutely true, but you don’t want to hear it. You quit and take a job at the Olive Garden, knowing if you work for two months then you will get a huge bonus in the winter and be able to go anywhere — Chili’s, Cheesecake Factory, you name it. So do you bust your hump at the Olive Garden or do you continue to slack?

Stephen Drew – Yesterday, 3-for-5 with a HR, and over .350 in last 7 games. So far not a “step forward” season, but he’s worth the gamble the rest of the way to see if he can get hot.

Xavier Nady – 4-for-5, HR and 6 RBIs. Let’s go back to the 7th day of the season, shall we? “Honestly, never thought I’d ever mention (Nady) on the blog, but he’s starting the season on fire. Could he keep it going? What, am I Ms. Cleo? I don’t know for sure, but history tells us no. This won’t continue. Know what you can’t do? Let him sit on the waiver wire. Don’t drop Carlos Lee for him, but every year some players come out of nowhere. Maybe this is Nady’s year.” You know what’s funny? (Not funny funny, just mildly interesting funny.) People are still asking me if they should pick up Nady. No love for the X-Man.

Jose Guillen – Homered for the 2nd straight day and 3rd this week. Worth a pickup, just drop him when he realizes he’s stuck with the Royals until the end of the season.

Alfonso Soriano – The other day someone asked me for some names that could hit 15 HRs between now and end of season. In two months, this is a very difficult assignment (to hit 15 HRs, it’s not difficult to pick guys), the list looked like this (the order is their likelihood of getting to 15 HRs): Dunn, Soriano, Holliday, Burrell, Braun, Carlos Lee, Hamilton, Cust, Krispie and Vlad.

Andy LaRoche – HR yesterday. In leagues where you need to take some risks, I’d look at LaRoche. Then try and find anyone else, then look at LaRoche again, then take a steam, get a massage (you look stressed), get a bite to eat, play nine holes, then look over your 3rd base choices again and, if your choices are still limited, grab LaRoche.

Joel Hanrahan – Picked up his first save since Rauch was traded. As I said when the trade went down, Rauch only had 17 saves in over half of a year, Hanrahan’s not netting 20 in two months. And that’s me paraphrasing me!

Jorge Campillo – 7 IP, 6 Ks, 0 ER. He replaced Harang on most of my deeper teams. Now I don’t care if I ever see Harang again. Okay, that’s mean. I wanna see Harang again, just not on any of my teams.

Shane Victorino – 10th HR as he threatens to run away with the HR crown in the Victorino vs. Rios battle.

Brett Myers – Only one walk in his last two starts. Definitely worth taking a look in deeper leagues. Maybe he’s taking a similar route to Wainwright last year when it took him half a year to shake being a closer the previous year. Or maybe Myers’s trip to the minors smacked some sense into him. Though it’s usually Myers smacking the minors.

My only bats in reserve for the coming week are Alexei Ramirez and Ankiel – simply because I set the lineup at the beginning of the week and Alexei isn’t outperforming Grandy and Sparkakis (by my league’s point system)

I may be crazy but earlier in the year I traded with someone who I think is Iowa’s long lost cousin – a crazy Cubs fan who is trying to load his team with Cubbies.

post #2 had my pitching and as I am trying to power up my outfield I sent an offer of Harden for ASoriano a Cubby for a Cubby. I may try and throw in a player from the Southside in Alexei to sweeten the deal – unless that is throwing too much away for a bat.

How do you think Beltre will be the rest of the year? I’m debating dropping him because he hasn’t been that great lately. I just need to fill my UTL spot. Here are some guys that are FA in my league that I’ve thought about picking up…
Jim Thome
Brad Hawpe
Adam Jones
Jeremy Hermida
Casey Blake
Kevin Kouzmanoff
Edwin Encarnacion
Raul Ibanez

re: Hideki — If he clears waivers and you have a spot for him without dropping anyone too good.

@cruisinkc: All of them are solid Utility guys that should be floated in and out when they are hot. Right now I’d go Thome or Hawpe. Probably Hawpe right now because the Rockies are home against the Nats.

@Grey: Wasn’t the little pig’s house made out of sticks more fortified than the house of straw?

I know, I know too much time with the little ones! Reference to the three little pigs on razzball, mark the date!

Don’t worry, next year Iowa will be in my shoes as he is chasing around his third.

By the way, welcome back online – hope you had a good catch up, did you guys go check out the Dodgers new wubby? (see there I go again), crap I need to go do some yardwork or build sometihng with dangerous tools. Aargh!

@Zebo: Edwin hit 7 HRs in July. He’s not going to hit every single week. I have not touched him on my ten team league team all year and I’m in first. If you wanna play the hot hand, go for Guillen, but you may find yourself wanting to drop Guillen next week. BTW, there’s nothing wrong with playing the hot hand at Utility every week, this was stating facts rather than an indictment.

@Zebo: Just testing what I’ve learned and will try and say that Grey would go with Rivera. Just a hunch.

Trying to decide on pitchers this week – I have two openings and three options.
A. two starters, either Shields, Liriano, Harden, or Myers and three closers – Soria, Broxton, Fuentes
B. three starters (from the above) with two closers

@Baron Von Vulturewins: I am contemplating finally getting Pence in the lineup this week because he appears to be ramping up which means he probably craps the bad.
Ankiel is sitting on the pine until he gets in there for more than a PH single in a week. comparing Pence’s numbers to Alexei, Pence had one SB a triple, and one extra run.
For some reason Alexei might still get the nod over Pence, I haven’t looked at the number of games to play and matchups this coming week.

My bench-again, lineup-again woes with Donk Davis have been chronicled elsewhere on this site, but I cheered up mightily over not trading for Carlos Pena when Project Donk went Donk again last night.

If Sgt Donk and his fighting fists of Donkitude can serve up 15 more tater-tots (donkilicious!) afore the season is through, I will be plenty happy, and probably in first place.

@Grey: Damned Soriano decides to heat up just when I’m trying to pry him loose from his tightfisted owner. Nothing kills a trade talk like seeing your player go yard — it’s like some sort of supernatural sign.

So now I have recalibrated to try and get Markakis, for Hamels and Six Pence None the Richer. Not as many donks from Sparky, naturally, but he’s a third OF I can slot in and stop already with the Pence/Butler/Rivera merry-go-round.*

*From which Swisher was forcibly ejected some weeks ago, like a too-tall fat kid being told he can’t ride this ride.

In his first full week on my team, I’d have to say Holliday has been a success. And so much for those Away Splits, he hit 3 homeruns against the Marlins. It’s the first time I’ve ever had Holliday on my team and I must admit I’ve fallen in love. There’s not much to dislike about his game.

As a Braves fan, I take pride in most of our ex-players crashing and burning after signing big contracts with other teams. But Andruw is taking this to the extreme. I heard he’s about to be optioned down to AAA. Do you think there is any chance the Dodgers just kick themselves in the balls and release him?

And I think I’d rather have a stud middle reliever who will get me solid K’s and ERA/WHIP each week than Hanrahan. 1 save in over 10 games and he’s given up runs his last few outings.. He’s pretty worthless.

Do you ever mention Aubrey Huff? I picked him up a while ago and he’s been solid. I get the feeling no one really cares though. It’s like, “Oh, you want respect? We hype you up for a few years while you’re in Tampa and you don’t do shit.. Now you put together a great season and expect us to care after all these years? Well fuck you Aubrey.”

@Grey: I believe it was me who was STILL asking whether he should pick up Nady.

On a side note, have just been offered Berkman and Tulo for Hanley (by the guy in first). Berk is 1B/RF eligible – I have Howard at 1B and Markakis/Hawpe/Rios/Nady who can play RF. So I’m OK in those positions

yeah i don’t know why Chris Davis is so under the radar. Have you seen his AVG ranks? what else does he have to do to prove he’s wesome? He’s fearless…hits on the road, against elite pitchers….. i wanna see him mash Joba tonight. I love the guy, 2nd round pick next year for sure.

@Scott S.: Wow… “It’s like, “Oh, you want respect? We hype you up for a few years while you’re in Tampa and you don’t do shit.. Now you put together a great season and expect us to care after all these years? Well fuck you Aubrey.” — I think you hit the nail on the head perfectly with that. Plus his name is Aubrey. Yuck.

@wakeNbake: He’s been real solid as a MR even if he’s not getting saves, but he should be one of the first dropped if you need space on your roster.

I had an offer on the table from a guy that would net me Morneau/BJ Upton for Atkins/McLouth.

I shot back with a give McLouth for Upton only trade. Before anyone rips me for the offer, SB’s is something I could really use, and Upton would take the place of Pedroia at 2b for me. I’ve loved having McLouth this far but his numbers are starting to slowly head south and I have Pence/Victorino to fill his role. I firmly believe Pence = McLouth the rest of the way and Upton can be more of an impact at 2b than Pedroia.

And giving Atkins for Morneau is a wash to me. Atkins is known for his bat in the 2nd half and is more flexible with the 1b/3b eligibility. Morneau’s got him right now in stats but I’m thinking it’s pretty close by year end.

@Scott S.: True that about Huff. Though one sure way to die a slow death in fantasy baseball is to pick up this week’s hot hitter, until suddenly you wake up in August with a team full of Huff’s, Guillen’s, and Milton Bradley’s. That said, you DO miss out on guys like Huff who suddenly regenerate their talent out of nowhere. See also: Pena, Carlos from last year, who’s improbable resurgence (surgence?) almost cost me my title.

What can I say? NO ONE will trade with me. I’ve been Dangling Hamels ™ all month with no takers. So I have to go after the youngin’s. If I had a crystal ball and could have seen Huff’s consistency, I would have grabbed him, but for the most part those aging vets with two hot weeks bore me to tears.

@Grey: OK maybe I’m overeacting a bit but McLouth is starting to have too many strikes against him in my book. He’s lost Nady and Bay off his team, he’s starting to struggle some at the plate, and Pence and Victorino are making him easy to move. Some of sites I’ve looked at are predicting Upton to be a top 3 2b from here on and I believe it. I’m gaining more than losing in that trade imo.

I’m still also mulling over an offer of Miggy/Cain for Teixeira/Billingsley but Miggy is making that decision tough for me as his production’s been through the roof. Teixeira has been great but Miggy’s been otherwordly lately. And Billingsley is a better choice than Cain but I’m already safe for a 1st week bye in my playoffs and in the 2nd week of September, when I’ll be taking someone on in the 2nd round, the Dodgers have a 3 game series against the Rockies in Colorado. That makes me nervous.

@Grey: Mike Gonzo has given me 2 saves in the last month, is he worth dropping so I can pick up some dude who can provide me with holds (which are like saves)? I am 10 holds behind the guy in 3rd place in that category.

@Grey: Oh, I was all over Edinson. Then traded him for Morneau. I’m happy with how that turned out.

Also: Riding the Baker Train! He ain’t a rookie, but close enough.

Weirdly, aside from Edinson, there hasn’t been a big rookie bust-out this year. I guess Longo and his 21 donks and counting is pretty close. This year’s been more the year of the Improbable Comeback, e.g. Cliff Lee. STILL can’t believe that dude hasn’t crashed and burned yet.

C.J. Wilson wouldn’t discuss his health on Monday, and manager Ron Washington indicated that he might be dealing with fatigue.

Asked if he was healthy, Wilson replied “next question” and added, “I don’t like to talk about my health issues in the media, which is why I haven’t talked about them all year.” Washington reiterated today that Wilson was still his closer, but he said that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t use others to save games at times.

If Guardado’s still available in your league you might want to grab him now. Sounds like Wilson is headed to the Disgraceful List.

Aha…..done deal. I’m getting BJ Upton for McLouth. Finally I got something for one of my outfielders and now will platoon Victorino and Pence….more Victorino now since he’s on an absolute tear. And I like what Upton brings to the table over Pedroia at 2b.

Now I still need to decide whether I want to trade away Miggy/Cain for Teixeira/Billingsley and then be finished and ready for the playoffs. Is this a quality or useless trade?

@RT: Well, I don’t believe in trading for starters or closers and I do fine (7s usually in ten team, 12 in 15 team, etc). What seems to be the problem? There’s always pitchers I’m mentioning on the blog that should be available. You can’t grab Guthrie, Campillo, Randy, etc.?

@Grey:
I hate trading for SP as well… I had Marcum and Carmona out. Carmona is coming back into form, but Marcum is not. 18 team league, so all of the names you mentioned are on teams. I do have Lincecum, but I seem to be so far behind in WHIP and ERA (5 of 18) I can’t seem to make up ground.

@Grey:
Taken — believe it or not. I was trying hard on Kazmir and Liriano, but then the guy traded them for two relievers… I screamed veto, but nobody blinked…. Burnett/Lincecum/Marcum/Carmona — that is my rotation at the moment. My bullpen is all power, strike-out arms, which helps… I was trying to roll with more than 4 in an effort to at least catch up in Ks.. Olsen, Snell, Kennedy, Hughes… These are the names available right now. It ain’t pretty. With my pen, I was thinking of just rolling four SP